Zach Allen spent the past year-plus cementing himself as a central force on Denver’s talented defense.
Now he’ll be paid like one of the game’s best.
The Broncos defensive tackle came to an agreement with the team on a four-year, $102 million contract extension, according to multiple league sources. The deal comes with $69.5 million in guarantees and Allen is now under contract with the club through 2029.
The 28-year-old broke out in 2024, logging 8.5 sacks and leading all defensive tackles in the NFL with 67 pressures, according to Next Gen Stats.
His run of premier play in Denver dates back further than that, though, to the middle of the 2023 season when Allen really hit his stride.
The Broncos originally signed the 2019 third-round pick out of Boston College to a three-year deal as a free agent before the 2023 season. He spent the first four years of his career in Arizona, where he played for now-Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
Allen played the best football of his career last fall and dominated in big games. He had a hand, for example, in five different sacks of Cincinnati star Joe Burrow in a critical late-December matchup. He logged four or more pressures in 10 of the 16 games he played in and played a whopping 89% of defensive snaps.
All of those marks made Allen an easy call as an extension candidate this year as he prepared to enter the final year of his contract.
Allen jumps to No. 3 among interior defensive linemen in terms of average annual value at $25.5 million per season. That puts him near the top of the list of 15 other interior defensive linemen in the NFL to top $20 million per season in average annual contract value. There are only three others who make north of $25 million per season, including Milton Williams, who got $26 million per year from New England back in March as a free agent.
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